The Islamic State’s Wilayah Khorasan (or Khorasan province) has released a new set of photos documenting its battles against the Taliban in the Tora Bora Mountains and the nearby area. The region garnered worldwide attention in late 2001, after Osama bin Laden and many of his men retreated to an al Qaeda base in the mountains. It could have been bin Laden’s last stand, but the al Qaeda founder escaped and continued to manage an international network of subordinates until early May 2011, when he was finally killed in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
In June, press reports indicated that Wilayah Khorasan had captured bin Laden’s cave complex in Tora Bora from the Taliban. It was a supposedly high-profile win for Baghdadi’s men at a time when they are losing ground in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria. CBS News cited a broadcast in Pashto on the so-called caliphate’s local radio station, which trumpeted the territorial gain.
In mid-June, the Islamic State’s Naba magazine also carried an article on the campaign. Naba claimed that Wilayah Khorasan’s members sought to dispel any misgivings about their intentions after the Taliban had previously warned people in the area about the self-declared caliphate.
The Taliban denied that Abu Bakr al Baghdadi’s loyalists held the ground in Tora Bora, according to press reports. However, Wilayah Khorasan’s offensive in early June forced the Afghan government to respond after locals forged an alliance with the Taliban to fight the caliphate’s representatives.
The Taliban is battling the Afghan government and its Western allies on multiple fronts throughout Afghanistan. This allowed the Islamic State’s arm, which has far fewer fighters, to take advantage of a neglected front, as its enemies were preoccupied elsewhere.
http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2017/07/islamic-state-fights-the-taliban-afghan-government-backed-locals-in-tora-bora-mountains.php